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Commentary on Psalms 7 verses 10–17
David having lodged his appeal with God by prayer and a solemn profession of his integrity, in the former part of the psalm, in this latter part does, as it were, take out judgment upon the appeal, by faith in the word of God, and the assurance it gives of the happiness and safety of the righteous and the certain destruction of wicked people that continue impenitent.
I. David is confident that he shall find God his powerful protector and Saviour, and the patron of his oppressed innocency (Psa 7:10): "My defence is of God. Not only, God is my defender, and I shall find him so; but I look for defence and safety in no other; my hope for shelter in a time of danger is placed in God alone; if I have defence, it must be of God." My shield is upon God (so some read it); there is that in God which gives an assurance of protection to all that are his. His name is a strong tower, Pro 18:10. Two things David builds this confidence upon: - 1. The particular favour God has for all that are sincere: He saves the upright in heart, saves them with an everlasting salvation, and therefore will preserve them to his heavenly kingdom; he saves them out of their present troubles, as far as is good for them; their integrity and uprightness will preserve them. The upright in heart are safe, and ought to think themselves so, under the divine protection. 2. The general respect he has for justice and equity: God judgeth the righteous; he owns every righteous cause, and will maintain it in every righteous man, and will protect him. God is a righteous Judge (so some read it), who not only doeth righteousness himself, but will take care that righteousness be done by the children of men and will avenge and punish all unrighteousness.
II. He is no less confident of the destruction of all his persecutors, even as many of them as would not repent, to give glory to God. He reads their doom here, for their good, if possible, that they might cease from their enmity, or, however, for his own comfort, that he might not be afraid of them nor aggrieved at their prosperity and success for a time. He goes into the sanctuary of God, and there understands,
1.That they are children of wrath. They are not to be envied, for God is angry with them, is angry with the wicked every day. They are every day doing that which is provoking to him, and he resents it, and treasures it up against the day of wrath. As his mercies are new every morning towards his people, so his anger is new every morning against the wicked, upon the fresh occasions given for it by their renewed transgressions. God is angry with the wicked even in the merriest and most prosperous of their days, even in the days of their devotion; for, if they be suffered to prosper, it is in wrath; if they pray, their very prayers are an abomination. The wrath of God abides upon them (Joh 3:36) and continual additions are made to it.
2.That they are children of death, as all the children of wrath are, sons of perdition, marked out for ruin. See their destruction.
(1.)God will destroy them. The destruction they are reserved for is destruction from the Almighty, which ought to be a terror to every one of us, for it comes from the wrath of God, Psa 7:13, Psa 7:14. It is here intimated, [1.] That the destruction of sinners may be prevented by their conversion, for it is threatened with that proviso: If he turn not from his evil way, if he do not let fall his enmity against the people of God, then let him expect it will be his ruin; but, if he turn, it is implied that his sin shall be pardoned and all shall be well. Thus even the threatenings of wrath are introduced with a gracious implication of mercy, enough to justify God for ever in the destruction of those that perish; they might have turned and lived, but they chose rather to go on and die and their blood is therefore upon their own heads. [2.] That, if it be not thus prevented by the conversion of the sinner, it will be prepared for him by the justice of God. In general (Psa 7:13), He has prepared for him the instruments of death, of all that death which is the wages of sin. If God will slay, he will not want instruments of death for any creature; even the least and weakest may be made so when he pleases. First, Here is variety of instruments, all which breathe threatenings and slaughter. Here is a sword, which wounds and kills at hand, a bow and arrows, which wound and kill at a distance those who think to get out of the reach of God's vindictive justice. If the sinner flees from the iron weapon, yet the bow of steel shall strike him through, Job 20:24. Secondly, These instruments of death are all said to be made ready. God has them not to seek, but always at hand. Judgments are prepared for scorners. Tophet is prepared of old. Thirdly, While God is preparing his instruments of death, he gives the sinners timely warning of their danger, and space to repent and prevent it. He is slow to punish, and long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish. Fourthly, The longer the destruction is delayed, to give time for repentance, the sorer will it be and the heavier will it fall and lie for ever if that time be not so improved; while God is waiting the sword is in the whetting and the bow in the drawing. Fifthly, The destruction of impenitent sinners, though it come slowly, yet comes surely; for it is ordained, they are of old ordained to it. Sixthly, Of all sinners persecutors are set up as the fairest marks of divine wrath; against them, more than any other, God has ordained his arrows. They set God at defiance, but cannot set themselves out of the reach of his judgments.
(2.)They will destroy themselves, Psa 7:14-16. The sinner is here described as taking a great deal of pains to ruin himself, more pains to damn his soul than, if directed aright, would save it. His conduct is described, [1.] By the pains of a labouring woman that brings forth a false conception, Psa 7:14. The sinner's head with its politics conceives mischief, contrives it with a great deal of art, lays the plot deep, and keeps it close; the sinner's heart with its passions travails with iniquity, and is in pain to be delivered of the malicious projects it is hatching against the people of God. But what does it come to when it comes to the birth? It is falsehood; it is a cheat upon himself; it is a lie in his right hand. He cannot compass what he intended, nor, if he gain his point, will he gain the satisfaction he promised himself. He brings forth wind (Isa 26:18), stubble (Isa 33:11), death (Jam 1:15), that is, falsehood. [2.] By the pains of a labouring man that works hard to dig a pit, and then falls into it and perishes in it. First, This is true, in a sense of all sinners. They prepare destruction for themselves by preparing themselves for destruction, loading themselves with guilt and submitting themselves to their corruptions. Secondly, It is often remarkably true of those who contrive mischief against the people of God or against their neighbours; by the righteous hand of God it is made to return upon their own heads. What they designed for the shame and destruction of others proves to be their own confusion.
- Nec lex est jusitior ulla
Quam necis artifices arte perire sua -
There is not a juster law than that the author
of a murderous contrivance shall perish by it.
Some apply it to Saul, who fell upon his sword.
In singing this psalm we must do as David here does (Psa 7:17), praise the Lord according to his righteousness, that is, give him the glory of that gracious protection under which he takes his afflicted people and of that just vengeance with which he will pursue those that afflict them. Thus we must sing to the praise of the Lord most high, who, when his enemies deal proudly, shows that he is above them.
Just as men who are polishing up their arms indicate by this action the attack in war, so Scripture, wishing to bespeak a movement of God toward vengeance, says that he polishes his sword. “He has bent his bow.” … There is no bowstring that stretches the bow of God, but a punitive power, now strained tight, again loosened. Scripture threatens the sinner that future punishments are prepared for him, if he remains in his sin.
That same adversary, Absalom, as if he has been born again from ourselves, prepares the war against us. Our sound judgment concerning the matter, or rather our alliance with God, turns him who is bloodthirsty against us back. For because he attributes the cause of the good things that have been accomplished for him through “the words of Cush” to God, he composes this thanksgiving.… It would be worthwhile to apply the figures of the story to the virtuous life, how the advice that saves us becomes the strangling of the adversary; and this saving advice has been recorded, on the one hand, in the history, and on the other, in the psalm.
The ones who are burning are those who have received the flaming arrows of the devil.
Many maintain that these words of the psalm refer to the devil; they mean, unless you will have been converted, unless you will have repented, you will be in the power of the devil. “He will bend and aim his bow.” The devil always has his bow ready, and he is ever alert to shoot his arrows and strike us down.… They whose hearts are burning with lust and passion are the very ones whom the devil conquers.… The psalm did not say for those who are about to burn—that is, about to burn from his arrows. The hearts of those he sees already burning, no matter whose they are, are his target.
"And in it He has prepared the instruments of death: He has wrought His arrows for the burning" [Psalm 7:13]. That bow then I would readily take to be the Holy Scripture, in which by the strength of the New Testament, as by a sort of string, the hardness of the Old has been bent and subdued. From thence the Apostles are sent forth like arrows, or divine preachings are shot. Which arrows "He has wrought for the burning," arrows, that is, whereby being stricken they might be inflamed with heavenly love. For by what other arrows was she stricken, who says, "Bring me into the house of wine, place me among perfumes, crowd me among honey, for I have been wounded with love"? By what other arrows is he kindled, who, desirous of returning to God, and coming back from wandering, asks for help against crafty tongues, and to whom it is said, "What shall be given you, or what added to you against the crafty tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with devastating coals:" that is, coals, whereby, when you are stricken and set on fire, you may burn with so great love of the kingdom of heaven, as to despise the tongues of all that resist you, and would recall you from your purpose, and to deride their persecutions, saying, "Who shall separate me from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? For I am persuaded," he says, "that neither death, nor life, nor angel, nor principality, nor things present, not things to come, nor power, nor height, nor depth, nor other creature, shall be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Thus for the burning has He wrought His arrows. For in the Greek copies it is found thus, "He has wrought His arrows for the burning." But most of the Latin copies have "burning arrows." But whether the arrows themselves burn, or make others burn, which of course they cannot do unless they burn themselves, the sense is complete.
These are not words of punishment, note, but of threat: he said wield, not inflict; bent his bow, not fired the arrow. And to teach us against whom he will fire the arrows, he immediately attached the words “he made his arrows into flaming shafts,” that is, those taking combustible material of sin, building with wood, hay and stubble, as the divine apostle says, will be struck with these fiery arrows.
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SUMMARY
Psalms 7:13 profoundly declares God's active and decisive role in executing divine justice against the wicked. It portrays the Almighty as a righteous Judge who not only observes the actions of persecutors but has already meticulously prepared the means of their retribution, ensuring that His judgment is certain, purposeful, and inescapable for those who persist in their oppression of the righteous. This verse serves as both a stern warning to evildoers and a profound comfort to those who suffer injustice, affirming God's unwavering commitment to upholding righteousness and bringing ultimate accountability.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Psalms 7:13 employs several potent literary devices to convey its message with striking clarity and impact. The most prominent is Metaphor, particularly in the phrases "instruments of death" and "his arrows." These are not literal tools or projectiles but serve as powerful symbolic representations of the diverse means and methods God uses to bring about judgment and retribution. The imagery of "arrows" vividly portrays the swiftness, precision, and inescapable nature of divine judgment, striking down the wicked with certainty. Additionally, there is a clear element of Anthropomorphism, where God is described with human-like actions: "preparing" instruments and "ordaining" arrows. This personification helps the human mind grasp God's active involvement and purposeful intent in the realm of justice, making His divine attributes relatable and His actions comprehensible to the psalm's audience. The verse also exhibits Parallelism in its structure, with the two clauses reinforcing the same core idea of God's readiness to judge, creating a rhythmic and emphatic declaration of divine justice.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Psalms 7:13 stands as a powerful declaration of God's unwavering commitment to justice, a theme deeply woven throughout the biblical narrative. It reveals a God who is not merely transcendent but immanently involved in the affairs of humanity, actively intervening to uphold righteousness and punish wickedness. This verse assures believers that evil actions do not go unnoticed or unpunished, reinforcing the truth that God is the ultimate arbiter of right and wrong, and His moral order will ultimately prevail. The imagery of God's prepared judgment resonates with other scriptural passages that speak of His righteous wrath and His readiness to defend the oppressed, providing both a warning to the unrepentant and profound solace to those who suffer injustice. It underscores the divine attribute of holiness, which necessitates a response to sin, and the attribute of faithfulness, which guarantees vindication for His people.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Psalms 7:13 offers a profound and multifaceted message for contemporary believers, speaking directly to our understanding of God's character and our response to injustice. For those who are caught in cycles of oppression, false accusation, or relentless persecution, this verse serves as a powerful anchor of hope. It reminds us that our God is not indifferent to suffering; He is a righteous Judge who sees every wrong, hears every cry, and is actively preparing to bring justice. This truth encourages us to commit our cause to Him, to trust in His perfect timing and methods, and to resist the temptation to take vengeance into our own hands, knowing that "vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord" (Romans 12:19). This divine assurance frees us from the burden of personal retaliation and allows us to focus on living righteously. Conversely, for those who might be tempted to act unjustly, to oppress others, or to harbor malicious intent, this verse stands as a stark and sobering warning. It declares that God has already prepared the "instruments of death" and "ordaineth his arrows" against such "persecutors." This should prompt deep introspection and genuine repentance, fostering a commitment to righteousness, mercy, and justice in all our dealings, knowing that we will all ultimately stand before the righteous Judge. It calls us to align our lives with God's perfect justice, seeking to be instruments of His righteousness rather than objects of His wrath.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Does this verse promote vengeance or a desire for harm against others?
Answer: While Psalms 7:13 vividly describes God's active judgment against persecutors, it does not promote human vengeance or a desire for personal harm against adversaries. Instead, it underscores that vengeance belongs to God alone, as explicitly stated in Romans 12:19. The verse offers profound comfort and assurance to the oppressed by affirming that God will ultimately bring justice, thereby alleviating the need for personal retaliation. It encourages believers to trust in God's sovereign and righteous judgment, rather than fostering a spirit of vindictiveness. Believers are called to a higher standard, to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them, as taught by Jesus in Matthew 5:44, leaving ultimate retribution firmly in God's hands.
What are the "instruments of death" God prepares?
Answer: The "instruments of death" (Hebrew: keli mawet) are metaphorical, referring to the diverse and comprehensive means by which God executes His judgment. These are not necessarily physical weapons in a human sense, but encompass any form of divine retribution, whether through natural disasters, the consequences of one's own sin, the actions of other nations or individuals, or direct supernatural intervention. The Bible often describes God using various means to bring about His purposes, including famine, plague, war, or even the internal turmoil and self-destructive actions of the wicked, as implied in subsequent verses like Psalms 7:14-16. The phrase emphasizes God's comprehensive power, His absolute readiness, and His sovereign ability to use any means necessary to uphold His perfect justice.
How does God's judgment reconcile with His love and mercy?
Answer: God's justice and His love are not contradictory but rather complementary and perfectly integrated aspects of His unchanging character. His judgment, as seen in Psalms 7:13, is a righteous response to persistent evil and unrepentant sin, demonstrating His holiness and His unwavering commitment to moral order. It is an act of love towards the oppressed, protecting them and upholding righteousness, and a warning to those who would cause harm. God is consistently described as "slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love" (Psalms 145:8), offering ample opportunity for repentance before judgment is executed, as highlighted in 2 Peter 3:9. However, when mercy is continually rejected and wickedness persists, His justice demands a response. Ultimately, God's love is most profoundly demonstrated in His provision of salvation through Christ, where His justice was fully satisfied on the cross, and His mercy was extended to all who believe, as articulated in Romans 5:8.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
While Psalms 7:13 powerfully describes God's direct judgment against persecutors in the Old Testament context, its ultimate fulfillment and deepest theological meaning are found in the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Christ is the perfect embodiment of God's righteousness and justice, who, through His sinless life, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection, perfectly upheld the divine standard. On the cross, Jesus became the ultimate recipient of God's "instruments of death" and "arrows" of wrath, absorbing the full judgment for the sins of humanity, including the sin of persecution and all forms of injustice (Isaiah 53:5). For those who believe in Him, His sacrifice means that the divine judgment for their past sins has been fully satisfied, and they stand justified before God, declared righteous not by their own merit but by His grace through faith (Romans 3:23-26). Furthermore, Christ Himself will return as the righteous Judge, not only to vindicate His persecuted people and establish His eternal kingdom but also to execute final and perfect justice upon all unrepentant "persecutors" and all forms of evil (Revelation 19:11-16). Thus, Psalms 7:13 points forward to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), and to the Lion of Judah who will ultimately establish perfect justice and peace in His eternal kingdom, bringing an end to all persecution and wickedness.